A young midwife travels west to the New Mexico Territory to care for women in need and faces dangers more harrowing than the ones she’s fleeing in this epic tale of survival, redemption, and love from Sara Donati, the international bestselling author of the Wilderness series.
1857: In a bid to outrun her past, Carrie Ballentyne accepts a nursing position with a doctor in the New Mexico Territory. She knows the journey from New York to Santa Fe will not be easy, but she relishes the adventure. However, nothing could have prepared her for the wilderness she encounters. Its vastness and power are awe-inspiring, stunning in both beauty and brutality. To endure, she must learn to rely on her fellow travelers—and one enigmatic man in particular. As the small, tight-knit group tackles challenge after challenge, she feels her heart opening to this rugged land—and the people willing to risk so much for one another.
The trip west is only the beginning of Carrie’s challenges, though. In Santa Fe, she compassionately helps women bring new life into the world, making her beloved among new mothers. Soon, however, she realizes that her employer and his wife are keeping secrets from her, and she must ferret out the truth to protect their young daughter. But to save the little girl she’s come to cherish, Carrie will have to confront the demons in her own past—a feat that will take all of her bravery with the help of the man she’s grown to love and depend on above all others.
With its vivid descriptions of the breathtaking western landscape and its irresistible characters, The Sweet Blue Distance is the unforgettable story of one woman’s courage to heal herself, her family, and the women entrusted to her care.
Release date:
April 2, 2024
Publisher:
Berkley
Print pages:
800
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Calle del Convento Viejo de la Parroquia Principal
Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory
November 18, 1856
Michael V. Colby, M.D.
143 East 17th-Street
New York City
Dear Michael,
Many thanks for your letter dated 22nd September, and congratulations to you and Aurelia on the arrival of a healthy grandson. As our Lulu is so young, I can only hope I'll live long enough to be a grandfather, and so I count myself fortunate to have Matthew Markham Colby as a grandnephew.
Not sure if I should congratulate you on the directorship at the New Amsterdam. Of course you deserve it, but why would you want it? If you're tired of practicing medicine, maybe you should give it up and move to your place on Sag Harbor. Or better still, come out west. If Santa Fe doesn't suit, you could try your luck in the Sierra Nevada gold fields.
Our news: Indira is expecting again and due, if my calculations are correct, in July. She's more frightened than she is pleased, given three losses since. You have seen such anxiety-even hysteria-in your own patients, I know. Given all that and with the sincere hope I do not intrude too far, I must ask for your help.
Indira insists she must have a midwife, a woman of good family trained in Richmond, Philadelphia, or New York. She has a strong preference for an American midwife, but an English woman with excellent references would be acceptable to her. This person must be born in either the United States or England. I expect Scotland would pass muster, but Ireland would not.
I think I mentioned to you in my last letter that my assistant John Edmonds has been admitted to the medical school at Bellevue. When we first took him in, I said that if he did well and showed promise, I would underwrite his education, and that time has come. His maturity and intelligence indicate to me that he will do very well in medical school. With his departure imminent, I have to hire a nurse, and from that follows my decision to hire one person who is both nurse and midwife, and to get her here as soon as possible.
You will have noted that I have enclosed a draft of an advertisement. Would you be so good as to look it over and circulate it where you think it might catch the attention of suitable and qualified applicants? Make changes if you think I've been too blunt, but don't soften it up too much. New Mexico Territory isn't the place for gently reared women, as I have learned. If you are up to it, I'd be thankful if you could interview applicants briefly to weed out the inexperienced, unrealistic, or unsuitable ones, as time is of the essence. I am forever in your debt. Please give my love to Aurelia and your many offspring.
Your devoted friend and brother-in-law,
Sam
Wanted: Nurse-Midwife to Join an Established Medical Practice in New Mexico Territory
Dr. Samuel Markham, originally of this city but resident in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory, for the last ten years, is seeking a formally trained, experienced nurse and midwife to join his medical practice. This position requires someone who will see patients and assist in his Santa Fe dispensary, but who will also make home visits in the town and environs. Thus the successful applicant must be an experienced rider.
There is a great deal of unrest in the territory. Indian raids and attacks are not uncommon outside Santa Fe and less common within the boundaries of the town, due in part to the presence of the U.S. Army and the garrison. Thus the nurse who joins the practice must be courageous, quick-witted, and able to handle weapons. A truly excellent applicant who has no experience with firearms but is willing to learn will be considered.
To a well-trained, conscientious, compassionate, vigorous, and hardworking individual who is not afraid of the unfamiliar, Dr. Markham offers the following: all costs associated with relocation to Santa Fe; a weekly salary of $15; the use of a good horse and saddle; a private room and board; and services of the household staff. You will take meals with the family (which includes the doctor, his wife, and a young daughter) and be counted as one of their number.
Santa Fe's population is about one-quarter white, including the soldiers at the military garrison; the rest are Mexican, Indian, African, or mixed blood. There are very few Orientals. There are many different tribes in and near Santa Fe, including the Pueblo clans, the Apache, Navajo, and Ute. Other tribes pass through on a regular basis. As Spanish is the lingua franca, the person hired will be required to learn that language within a reasonable amount of time. Further, she must agree to set out for Santa Fe no later than the beginning of May, and to commit to a three-year period of service. In addition to a very liberal salary, Dr. Markham will consider an annual bonus for a person who becomes an asset to the practice and agrees to a longer contract.
Interested parties should first present themselves to Dr. Michael Colby at the New Amsterdam Charity Hospital. If that interview is successful, he will ask you to send a letter of application to Dr. Markham, in which you provide information about your background, your training, and experience.
Dr. Michael V. Colby, Director
New Amsterdam Charity Hospital
notice dated December 15, 1856
Ballentyne to Markham
E. C. Ballentyne
18 Waverly Place
New York, New York
January 4, 1857
Samuel Markham, M.D.
Physician and Surgeon
Calle del Convento Viejo de la Parroquia Principal
Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory
Dear Dr. Markham,
Dr. Michael Colby, a friend of my family, visited on New Year's Day to tell us about a recent letter he had from you.
As a fully trained and qualified nurse and midwife, I listened with great interest to the description of the position you are now trying to fill. Please consider this letter my application for that position. You will soon receive letters of reference from Dr. Colby, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, and the midwife Amelie Savard, a highly regarded and respected practitioner, who happens also to be my cousin, and with whom I apprenticed and trained in midwifery.
I was born on January 31, 1831. I attended school from age six to sixteen, first in the town where I was born upstate, and then at Mrs. Highsmith's Trivium here in Manhattan. At age sixteen I graduated and then began my training at the New Amsterdam. At eighteen I began my apprenticeship with the midwife Amelie Savard. Three years later I began attending births without supervision. Since that time I have attended on average four births a week, some at the New Amsterdam, but more often at the mother's home. I also make home visits when physicians on staff are otherwise occupied and the complaints are not life threatening.
I believe you will find me to be highly capable, clearheaded, decisive, self-possessed in the most chaotic of situations. My first concern is always for the patient's comfort and recovery.
Dr. Colby explained that you seek a midwife and nurse who will not mind living and working away from the conveniences of a city. I assure you that I would welcome such an opportunity. When my mother, then recently widowed, moved us away from the village of Paradise in the Adirondack wilderness to New York City, I was just twelve. My life here in Manhattan has not been lacking in any way, but I have never felt truly at ease here.
Further, I am in good health and capable of working long hours, and I am an accomplished horsewoman. Riding out to see patients is something I would look forward to.
I understand that the person you hire must be willing to work with and among Mexicans, Africans, and Indians of many different tribes. This is for me a very familiar way to live. My upbringing was unusual, as my family includes members of the Kahnyen'kehàka (Mohawk), Seneca, and Seminole tribes as well as many who have both Indian and African ancestors. Add to this my work with the poor and indigent, and you will see that I am more than comfortable with peoples and cultures other than my own.
My teachers have all remarked that I have an aptitude for foreign language, and I believe that I will be able to learn Spanish in a reasonable amount of time.
If my life or the life of someone nearby is in danger, I can and will take up weapons.
On one point I must ask for confirmation. Dr. Colby told us that you have never owned slaves and that you are an abolitionist. If this is not the case, please do not hesitate to tell me so; I could not in good conscience join your household or practice if you own slaves or are a supporter of slavery.
A simpler and less crowded life is what I want, but I need and welcome challenges and hard work as a midwife and nurse.
From Dr. Colby I understand that time is of the essence as your wife will have need of a midwife midsummer. In fact I am ready to travel west at any time. My brother Nathan will accompany me for my safety and then return to New York once he can assure my mother that I am well situated. He will, of course, pay his own travel costs.
Please accept my best wishes for you and your family. I hope to hear from you as soon as the mails allow.
Sincerely yours,
E. Carrie Ballentyne
PS You and Dr. Colby were students of my step-father's, Dr. Harrison Quinlan, at the same time. Dr. Quinlan remembers you well and asks me to send his best regards.
Colby to Markham
Michael V. Colby, M.D.
Director
The New Amsterdam Charity Hospital
New York, New York
January 1, 1857
Samuel Markham, M.D.
Physician and Surgeon
Calle del Convento Viejo de la Parroquia Principal
Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory
Dear Sam,
I believe I have found you an excellent nurse and midwife. Elizabeth C. Ballentyne (called Carrie, apparently) trained at the New Amsterdam and as an apprentice to Amelie Savard. You may remember Savard, a mixed-blood midwife with extraordinary skills. She is related somehow to Miss Ballentyne, who is, I hasten to say, of Scottish and English ancestry.
You may well receive her letter of introduction and application along with this letter. References will follow. You will not be disappointed.
I was going to write soon, anyway, as the enclosed books have been sitting here for weeks now. You were not the most enthusiastic student of anatomy, as I have good reason to know, but I am determined to engage your interest and curiosity at long last. I found Bennett's Clinical Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Medicine well put together and informative, but I think that Bernard's Illustrated Manual of Operative Surgery and Surgical Anatomy will be especially useful in your practice. It has just been translated from the French and the reviews are excellent.
With all my love to Indira and Lulu. Aurelia and I will keep you all in our prayers for a happier outcome-a healthy mother and child-sometime in the summer.
In haste (as usual, and also as usual, my apologies) with best wishes your friend,
Michael
Ballentyne to Markham
E. C. Ballentyne
18 Waverly Place
New York, New York
April 6, 1857
Samuel Markham, M.D.
Physician and Surgeon
Calle del Convento Viejo de la Parroquia Principal
Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory
Dear Dr. Markham,
Thank you for your letter dated March 1, and for the enclosures.
I have reviewed the employment contract and discussed it with my family and our solicitor. It is now my great pleasure to return your copy, signed and witnessed, to you.
It was quite thoughtful of you to send me the most recent issues of the Santa Fe Weekly Gazette, and in fact I appreciate the diplomatic way you chose to disabuse me of my fanciful imaginations of Santa Fe as a wilderness. I understand now that there is no lack of barbers, attorneys, dealers in fancy goods and household necessities, political debates or public celebrations in New Mexico Territory. I note also that half of the Gazette is published in Spanish; tomorrow I begin the search for a Spanish language tutor or, if that is not possible, a grammar I can study on my own. I had six years of Latin instruction and four of French, and trust this will ease the way.
I am pleased to relate that we have worked out our travel plans as far as Missouri's western border. We plan to leave here in early May, and will travel by rail to St. Louis. There we will book cabins on a Missouri River steamer bound for Westport Landing. Inquiries indicate that the journey that far will require somewhere between ten days and three weeks, depending on rail connections and conditions on the Missouri River.
Now we need only instructions from you on how to best proceed once we reach Kansas. From an advertisement in the Gazette, I see that a stagecoach leaves Independence for Santa Fe on the first day of each month, at a fare of $125 per person plus a baggage charge of 35¢ per pound. From the post office I have learned that there is also mail service that travels in caravan and accepts private passengers.
My concern about the stagecoach is this: if there is any delay between here and St. Louis, we are unlikely to reach Independence by the first of the month, and would miss the connection. However we travel in the last stage of this journey, I will arrange to have the luggage brought by the mail service once we reach Westport.
Finally, if you or Mrs. Markham have any requests, either for personal items or medical supplies, please do not hesitate to send a list. My brother and I would be pleased to be of service. I will depend on the list you provided of necessary clothing and footwear, and will bring my medical equipment, including a very fine microscope which was a gift from my mother and step-father when I completed my studies. I look forward to joining your medical practice as soon as the journey allows.
Yours sincerely,
E. Carrie Ballentyne
Part Two
Travel Diary
Monday, May 4, 1857
Baltimore, Maryland
Our first day of this journey is behind us. We are safely arrived in Baltimore, and have checked into Barnum's City Hotel. It is clean, well-furnished, and fancier than called for, but I think I will sleep very well. We had our supper in the dining room. They served a chicken fricassee that was lukewarm and too salty, but of course Nathan managed three helpings. They will provide a substantial packed lunch for tomorrow, for which we paid 25¢ each.
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